Sand Casting Motorcycle Cases

Sand casting has been around since, well, since a really really long time ago. For thousands of years, people have been pouring molten metal into finely crafted sand casts, and there’s really no reason that someone can’t do the same thing in their garage or workshop today. This article covers the process of sand casting new case parts for antique Indian motorcycles.  In this instance, the parts were not only very difficult to find, the author also wanted to modify the design completely.

Though there are a few terms that pop up with which we’re unfamiliar, the process seems pretty straightforward. You build a model of what you want, you create the sand cast from the model, you fill the cast with molten metal. Done. In some cases, depending on the level of precision needed, you may need some machining done afterward. However, in many cases things don’t have to be quite so exact.

[via Matthew Van Arsdale]

Meet The TM65 Liquid Propellant Rocket Engine

While we’re reluctant to say it for fear of being misinterpreted, the new liquid fuel rocket engine being built by Copenhagen Suborbitals is one of the most impressive, daring, and nearly the sexiest machine we’ve ever seen. Although the engine hasn’t been fired yet, [Peter Madsen], Chief launch vehicle designer at Copenhagen Suborbitals, gives an amazing 18-minute-long rundown of the function of each and every tank and tube of the TM65 in this video.

When the TM65 engine begins its firing sequence, valves attached to tanks of alcohol and liquid Oxygen are opened. The Oxygen pours directly into an injector manifold that atomizes the liquid in the combustion chamber, while the alcohol makes a much longer trip down to the engine bell, flowing between the double wall of the chamber and nozzle for cooling. Once the alcohol and Oxygen in the combustion chamber ignite, two gigantic tanks of Helium are opened and the gas is forced down to a heat exchanger at the end of the nozzle, increasing the temperature and pressure of the Helium. The Helium is then routed to the tanks, pressurizing them and forcing fuel and oxidizer into the combustion chamber at 40 liters per second. This entire process happens in only eight seconds; after that, the rocket attached to the TM65 will be on its way upward.

We’re not going to say the TM65 is the best engine ever seen on Hackaday; we’ll leave you to decide that. We can’t wait for the video of the test fire to hit the Internet, though.

Riding Rockets And Jets Around The Frozen Wastes Of Sweden

An attentive reader tipped us off to the guys at Mobacken Racing (translation), a group of Swedes dedicated to the art and craft of putting jet and rocket engines on go karts and snowmobiles.

One of the simpler builds is a pulse jet sled. Pulse jets are extremely simple devices – just a few stainless steel tubes welded together and started with a leaf blower. The simplicity of a pulse jet lends itself to running very hot and very loudly; the perfect engine for putting the fear of a Norse god into the hearts of racing opponents.

Pulse jets are a bit too simple for [Johansson], so he dedicates his time towards building a jet turbine engine. Right now it’s only on a test stand, but there’s still an awesome amount of thrust coming out of that thing, as shown in the video after the break.

In our humble opinion, the most interesting build is the 1000 Newton liquid fuel rocket engine. The liquid-cooled engine guzzles NOX and methanol, and bears a striking resemblance to liquid fuel engines we’ve seen before. Sadly, there are no videos of this engine being fired (only pics of it strapped to a go-kart), but sit back and watch a couple other hilariously overpowered engines disturbing a tranquil sylvan winter after the break.

Edit: [Linus Nilsson] wrote in to tell us while the guys at Mobacken Racing are good friends, [Linus], his brother, and third guy (his words) are responsible for the pulse jet sled. The pulse jet is actually ‘valved’ and not as simple as a few stainless steel tubes. The pulse jet isn’t started by a leaf blower, either, but a four kilowatt fan. [Linus]’ crew call themselves Svarthalet racing, and you can check out the Google translation here.

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Bodging Up A Diesel Motorcycle

[Alex] has been working on a diesel motorcycle project for a few months now, and the project is finally bearing fruit. It’s quite an accomplishment for something [Alex] describes as an industrial Chinese engine, a modded Honda Superdream, and a few Royal Enfield parts thrown in for good measure.

[Alex] bought his Honda CB400 from someone who had already done a diesel motor conversion; a 200cc single-cylinder motor provided just enough horsepower to putt around town. [Alex] wanted a bike that could keep up with highway speeds, so he replaced the wimpy 200cc motor with a 406cc diesel engine used for industrial purposes and an amr500 supercharger.

Although we’ve seen a few insane motorcycle builds, most of Hackaday’s bike builds focus on electric or scavenged parts motorcycles. If you’ve got an awesome motorcycle build you’ve been working on, send it in on the tip line.

You can check out the video of [Alex] testing out his new motor with vegetable oil (for him, it’s easier than getting diesel fuel) after the break.

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A Wooden Engine Powered By Compressed Air

You may have seen an air powered engine at some point, but most are made out of some sort of metal. This engine, however, is made entirely out of wood (and fasteners). One might wonder how a design like this was conceived, but this may be explained by [Woodgears.ca’s] tagline: “An engineer’s approach to woodworking.”  It should also be noted that this is actually [Matthias’] sequel to  “Wooden Air Engine 1.

The engine itself is a neat device in that it uses power from compressed air (or suction from a vacuum cleaner) to make the piston and connecting rod cycle back and forth to spin a flywheel.  The other connecting rod is used to switch which side of the “clyinder” received air pressure (or vacuum).  A really neat mechanical assembly, and one that took a good amount of skill to make out of wood.  Check out the video after the break to see how it all works!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngb4SYR74m4&w=470&h=315%5D

If you’d like your woodworking to be more automatic, check out this post about how to set up a CNC router for your personal use.

Engine Hacks – A DIY Methane Generator

All “methane generator” jokes aside, This one actually serves a useful purpose. Although not an engine hack per se, methane can be used to run an engine. As the traditional method of powering an internal combustion engine, gasoline, gets more and more expensive, alternatives will have to be found. If you happen to live on a farm, or have access to a source of organic waste, this method could serve as a viable one.

One would need quite a bit of waste, as each kilogram yields around 400 liters of methane gas. This amount is enough to run a gas light for around 4 hours. Any sort of useful engine would require quite a bit more than this (chicken farm possibly?).

A process for converting waste to fuel is illustrated in the video after the break. Extreme caution should be used if attempting to do something like this. There is a danger of not only flammable gas leaking and catching on fire or exploding, but the organic material can be quite toxic as well. Continue reading “Engine Hacks – A DIY Methane Generator”

Engine Hacks: Build A Turbojet From Junkyard Parts

Turbo chargers from cars are readily available and easily modified, so why not modify a turbo into a jet engine?

While [Mike]’s junkyard jet made the rounds on the Internet over a decade ago, the theory behind the homebrew turbojet is still sound. After pulling a turbo out of a 1983 Nissan Pulsar, [Mike] built a combustion chamber out of 2-inch pipe fittings. The propane fuel is ignited with a simple motorcycle spark plug and produces a hot and powerful blast of air twenty feet from the exhaust.

We suppose [Mike] wasn’t satisfied with such a puny engine made out of junk, so he decided to step it up a notch and improve his engine. After some development, [Mike] managed to build another jet out of a larger turbo that doesn’t require a constant spark. The newer engine produces ‘hurricane force wind’ 10 feet from the exhaust. We’re not sure how much thrust that translates into, but we’re a little surprised this engine hasn’t been mounted to a go-kart yet.

Check out the walk through and demo of the junkyard jet after the break.

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